Pursuing More Potent and Durable Immune Responses

For cancer and infectious disease

Read More

Our Vision

Gritstone’s goal is to develop groundbreaking immunotherapies for cancers and infectious diseases. Our approach focuses on generating a therapeutic immune response in these patients by unleashing the natural power of a patient’s immune system to recognize and destroy tumors or virally infected cells. It is well-established that one fundamental driver of an effective immune response is T cell recognition of abnormal cells and the proliferation of sufficient quantities of T cells to drive a potent attack against these cells, whether they are cancerous or virally infected. Inspired by this, we developed two platforms: 1) EDGE™, a best-in-class artificial intelligence driven platform to accurately identify T cell targets; and 2) unique delivery systems designed to stimulate the immune system and drive generation of T cells and neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) against the selected targets. Through these platforms, we have developed a portfolio of immunotherapies designed to effectively instruct the immune system to recognize and attack these targets. We believe that activating and directing the immune system in this unique way can offer an important opportunity to extend the benefits of immunotherapy to more patients.

Read More

What is a Tumor Antigen?

A small protein on the surface of a tumor cell that functions as the target for T cell mediated tumor death.

1.
Lineage
Specific

Antigens restricted to a certain normal cell type or lineage

2.
Shared Tumor-Associated Antigens

Antigens present in normal cells and overexpressed in cancer cells

3.
Shared Tumor-Specific Antigens

Antigens found in testis and tumor tissue that are functionally tumor specific

4.
Tumor-Specific Neoantigens

Antigens derived from mutated proteins in tumor cells

Increasing Tumor Specificity
decor-left decor-right

Vaccines Against Cancer

Leveraging our artificial intelligence Gritstone EDGE™ platform, as well as our expertise in cancer genomics, Gritstone is developing cancer vaccines designed to direct a robust immune response to neoantigens. We are developing two key classes of tumor-specific neoantigen product candidates to treat patients with cancer.

Personalized

Many tumor mutations are unique to each individual patient. For patients with neoantigens arising from patient-specific mutations, we believe that an immunotherapy made specifically for each patient has the potential to drive a potent immune response. GRANITE is Gritstone’s investigational personalized immunotherapy program.

Learn More

Off-the-Shelf

Some cancer mutations, known as driver mutations, are shared between cancer patients. Neoantigens that arise from these driver mutations are shared between patients may be able to be used to develop a neoantigen-based vaccine that is available 'off-the-shelf'. SLATE is Gritstone’s investigational off-the-shelf immunotherapy program.

Learn More

Vaccines Against Infectious Disease

Leveraging the same core technologies and similar approaches, Gritstone is developing multiple next-generation vaccines with the aim of eradicating and preventing infectious disease.

Treatment

Vaccines capable of eliciting strong immune responses could play a role in curing infectious diseases patients often live with today. The first application of this approach, Gritstone and Gilead Sciences established a collaboration to research and develop a vaccine-based immunotherapy as part of Gilead’s efforts to find a potentially curative treatment for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

Learn More

Prevention

First generation COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to offer good initial protection; however, antibody responses may wane over time. Maximizing strength and duration of antibody responses could enable broader and more durable immune response, and T cells could offer a key second layer of defense.Leveraging our unique capabilities, Gritstone is developing vaccines candidates that have the potential to drive more potent and durable responses against SARS-CoV-2 and other common viral diseases.

Learn More
Pleasanton, CA

Gritstone’s Pleasanton facility houses our manufacturing capabilities and is fully equipped with multiple clean rooms, quality control and assurance, and development labs.

Emeryville, CA

Gritstone’s Emeryville facility is our corporate headquarters and includes our immunotherapy platform research lab and development team.

Cambridge, MA

Gritstone’s Cambridge facility includes our GMP sequencing lab, immune monitoring, and mass spec immunopeptidomics capabilities.

Our Facilities

With antigen-specific immunotherapy candidates, there are many areas of development that require exceptional expertise and execution. Each of Gritstone’s three facilities have specialized capabilities and personnel with the technical know-how that we believe is required to build the next generation of targeted immunotherapies.

Meet Our Leadership

Gritstone has assembled a group of distinguished scientific founders and advisers, a highly experienced leadership team, and a seasoned board of directors to tackle fundamental challenges at the intersection of cancer genomics and immunotherapy.

Learn More
Andrew Allen, M.D., Ph.D.
Co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
Celia Economides
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Matthew Hawryluk, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer
Erin E. Jones, M.S.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Karin Jooss, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development
Stacy Proctor
Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer

Join Our Team

At Gritstone, we are committed to progressing the fields of immunotherapy and vaccinology. We aim to combine novel science with a focus on culture and teamwork, and are looking for passionate, innovative people to join us.

Join Our Team
Top